Positive prospects for tourism this year

By Peter Muiruri

Despite the ongoing security issues in the country and an impending general election, players in the tourism industry are upbeat that this year will be another fruitful one for the sector.

The optimism is buoyed by the good performance last year, which was dubbed best so far in the industry.

In the statistics posted on the Tourism ministry’s website for the January-October 2011 period, tourist arrivals closed at 1,039,852 compared to 896,228 for the same period in 2010, accounting for a 16 per cent growth.

In terms of revenue, that translated to Sh81.96 billion compared to Sh56.72 billion in the similar period in 2010, an increase of about 45 per cent.

Tourism Minister Najib Balala attributed the phenomenal growth in tourist arrivals to the sector’s efforts of diversification of source markets and venturing into emerging world economies.

"Emerging markets were the drivers of the total growth, with most of them recording above 40 per cent growth," said the minister.

It is to these new markets that stakeholders in the industry hope to tap into this year to maintain the momentum.

Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) Managing Director Muriithi Ndegwa says the tourism marketing body would continue with its strategy of market diversification by targeting emerging markets such as South Korea and Scandinavia.

Domestic tourism

"KTB will continue to aggressively market Kenya locally and abroad, taking advantage of the diverse opportunities available to encourage consumers to come to Kenya. We will work with the local and international travel players to promote Kenya as a premier tourist destination," says Ndegwa.

Towards the end of last year, KTB’s marketing strategies bore fruit by attracting visitors outside the traditional markets. Several charter flights landed in the country with some of the visitors promising to return this year.

As an example, Novair charter flight from Sweden landed in Kenya on December 1, last year as the first direct flight from Scandinavia since 2007, with a capacity of 211 passengers. Swedish arrivals rose by 20 per cent last year as compared to the previous year.

Charter flights

In December 14, last year, Finnair started flying from Helsinki to Mombasa with a capacity of 268 passengers. The flight will be operating once every fortnight. The charter flight is shared by two of the largest tour operators in Finland — Aurinkomatkat and Finnmatkat.

Then there is the latest buzz created by the arrival of the charter flight by Korean Airlines, which landed in the country on January 15 with 144 passengers. The aircraft that has a capacity of 222 passengers returned to Kenya on January 21 with 190 passengers.

Beginning May this year, the airline will begin scheduled direct flights from Seoul to Nairobi three times a week.

Together with other stakeholders, KTB intends to promote domestic tourism through programmes aimed at attracting locals to Kenya’s favourite destinations. This will cushion the country from any dry spells that may be occasioned by financial upheavals affecting external tourist sources.

Among the groups targeted by KTB include Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), National Museums of Kenya, Friends of Karura Forest, Kenya Association of Tour Operators, Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers & Caterers and the Kenya Tourism Federation.

Regional tourism associations are also becoming active in tourism promotion and product development. Examples are the North Rift Tourism Association, Mt Kenya Tourism Circuit Association, Mombasa and Coast Tourism Association and the Lake Victoria Tourism Association. KTB and key trade associations are currently assisting in the establishment of Lamu Tourism Association.

"We shall continue to support the numerous local events such as the Lamu Cultural Festival, Maralal Camel Derby and the Loiyangalani Festival. These events have opened up these destinations, thereby providing a diversified range of destinations to both local and international tourists," said Ndegwa.

KTB has also enlisted the help of some Internet users to deliver the message.

"We have engaged popular bloggers in Kenya by taking them on familiarisation trips to enable them initiate conversation online on the numerous destinations available in the country. During the first trip, the bloggers covered the Masai Mara Game Reserve, Nakuru, Naivasha, Lake Baringo and Lake Bogoria. A trip planned in March will take them to Western and Central Kenya tourism circuits," says Ndegwa.

Vision 2030

Apart from market diversification, the tourism industry also aims at repackaging its products to suit such emerging markets.

"Besides cultural events, we want to push new products such as sports tourism and conferencing as new avenues of attracting visitors," says Ndegwa.

To cope with the projected increase in the number of visitors, KWS has just floated tenders to parties interested in constructing accommodation facilities in some of the parks.

According to KWS Corporate Communications Manager Paul Udoto, the construction of such facilities is part of the Government’s development blueprint, Vision 2030, which requires the opening up of the less developed areas of the country.

"This is a broad programme of improving infrastructure in the remote but strategic places and thus position Kenya among the top ten long haul destinations," says Udoto.